Democratic Unionist Party
 Democratic Unionist Party     | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | DUP |
| Founder | Ian Paisley |
| Headquarters | 91 Dundela Avenue Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland |
| Member of | International Democrat Union |
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. Ian Paisley founded the DUP in 1971, during the Troubles, and led the party for the next 37 years. Now led by Arlene Foster, it is the party with the most seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fifth-largest party in the House of Commons. Following the UK/2017 General Election, the party has agreed to support a Conservative minority government on a case-by-case basis on matters of mutual concern.[1]
The DUP evolved from the Protestant Unionist Party and has historically strong links to the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, the church Paisley founded. During the Troubles, the DUP opposed attempts to resolve the conflict that would involve sharing power with Irish nationalists or republicans, and rejected attempts to involve the Republic of Ireland in Northern Irish affairs. It campaigned against the Sunningdale Agreement of 1973, the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985, and the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. In the 1980s, the party was involved in setting up the paramilitary movements Third Force and Ulster Resistance.
It is right-wing and socially conservative, being anti-abortion and opposing same-sex marriage. The DUP sees itself as defending Britishness and Ulster Protestant culture against Irish nationalism. The party is Eurosceptic and during the 2016 EU Referendum it supported the UK's withdrawal from the EU.[2][3]
For most of the DUP's history, the Ulster Unionist Party was the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland, but by 2004 the DUP had overtaken the UUP in terms of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Westminster Parliament. Following the St Andrews Agreement in 2006, the DUP agreed to enter into power-sharing devolved government in Northern Ireland with Sinn Féin. Despite reports of divisions within the party, a majority of the party executive voted in favour of power-sharing in 2007.[4] However, the DUP's sole Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Jim Allister,[5] and seven DUP councillors[6] left the party in opposition to its plans to share power with Sinn Féin, founding the Traditional Unionist Voice.[7] Peter Robinson became DUP leader in 2008.
Party Members
| Politician | Born | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Diane Dodds | 16 August 1958 | |
| Nigel Dodds | 20 August 1958 | Northern Irish barrister, unionist politician and life peer, who was deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from June 2008 to May 2021. |
| Arlene Foster | 3 July 1970 | First Minister of Northern Ireland |
| Andrew Hunter | 8 January 1943 | |
| William McCrea | 6 August 1948 | |
| Iris Robinson | 6 September 1949 |
Related Documents
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:The Brutal Legacy of Bloody Sunday is a Powerful Warning to Those Hoping to Save Brexit | Article | 19 March 2019 | Patrick Cockburn | What we are seeing is the two most divisive issues in modern British history coming together in a toxic blend: these are Brexit and the Irish question. |
| Document:The Price of Peace | blog post | 6 November 2018 | Craig Murray | It is not possible to understand the current state of play in Brexit negotiations, without understanding that those effectively driving the Tory Party position do not view a hard border with Ireland as undesirable. They view it as a vital achievement en route to rolling back power sharing and all the affirmative measures which brought peace to Northern Ireland, in an affirmation of the glory and power of unionism. |
| Document:The Real Reason Theresa May’s Brexit Has Failed | Article | 2 March 2019 | T. J. Coles | So, the choice faced by ordinary British people is between a neoliberal EU supported by millionaires like Kenneth Clarke or an ultra-neoliberal Brexit supported by multimillionaires like Jacob Rees-Mogg. Meanwhile, ordinary working-class people pay the price for these elite games, as usual. |
References
- ↑
{{URL|example.com|optional display text}} - ↑ "DUP confirms it will campaign for Brexit in Leave/Remain referendum". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast Telegraph. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
The Democratic Unionist Party has formally announced its intention to campaign for a Brexit.
Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto"). - ↑ Jamie Merrill (9 June 2017). "What is the DUP position on Brexit?". The Essential Daily Briefing. iNews. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
No-one wants to see a ‘hard’ Brexit, what we want to see is a workable plan to leave the European Union, and that’s what the national vote was about – therefore we need to get on with that.
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